Electric lamp or similar device



Feb. 2, 1937. w g -r 2,069,638

ELECTRIC LAMP OR SIMILAR DEVICE Filed Jan. 23, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l H29 JITTUJ-ma /EY.

Feb. 2, 1937.

D. K. WRIGHT 2,069,638

ELECTRIC LAMP OR SIMILAR DEVICE Filed Jan. 25, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1.25 ATTUBJVEY Patented Feb. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Daniel K. Wright, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application January 28, 1932, Serial No. 588,485

9 Claims.

My invention relates to electric incandescent lamps and similar devices comprising an electric energy translation element, hereinafter referred to as a translation element, such as a filament, sealed in a bulb. Heretofore the ordinary practice has been to provide such a device with a base which comprises terminals connected to the conductors leading into the bulb and which is united to the bulb by cement or otherwise. The bulb serves, therefore, as the support for the mount, which comprises the translation element and its supporting structure within the bulb. As distinguished from that practice, according to my invention, the mount is supported directly by the base or terminal device (by which the lamp is mounted and which embodies its current supply terminals as well as its engagement means) or portion thereof, and not by the bulb. The inner leads of the mount are rigid and are united to the terminal device so that they serve as supports for the mount as well as electrical conductors. According to my invention the metal terminals are carried by an essentially all-glass body, preferably cup-shaped, which is sealed to the bulb at its edge. As the said leads are not sealed in the glass they may be of ordinary metal such as nickel.

The said terminal device or base preferably comprises terminal elements shaped so that they may be received by a socket or other electrical reception element of the supply circuit to afford support for the bulb and its contents and electrical connection to the translation element contained in the bulb. It will be apparent that my invention provides a stronger lamp or other device inasmuch as there is a direct support of the mount by the terminal device or base, independently of the attachment of the bulb thereto, instead of an indirect. support through the glass bulb to which the base is ordinarily united by cement. The union between the inner leads and the terminal elements may be by soldering, welding or otherwise to provide an entirely metal connection from the translation element, to the terminal element which serves as a support as well as an electrical connection.

Another feature of my invention is that it allows very accurat positioning of the translation element with reference to the terminal device and this permits the definite positioning without adjustment of said translation element with reference to light projection elements such as reflectors, lenses, etc., by simple insertion of the device in the socket or similar device which is accurately positioned with reference to said light projection elements. To this end the terminal elements, for instance, may be provided with shoulders or projections which serve as locating elements for the definite location of the translation element and which may be engaged by corresponding portions of the socket or other receptacle. Heretofore the accurate positioning of the light source, such as a filament, required adjustment, usually with the aid of optical devices, while the lamp was being based. Various other 10 features and advantages of my invention will appear from the following description of species thereof and from the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, Figs. 1 to 3 and 5 to 8 represent side elevations of various steps in my method oi manufacturing an incandescent lamp; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an end of either lead and a section through a thimble constituting a terminal element; and Fig. 9 is a fragmentary side elevation of an incandescent lamp manufactured according to a modification of my method of manufacture.

According to my invention, the exhaust tube 10 and thimbles H and II are first attached to the cup shaped glass flare I3, which forms the body of the terminal device as a unitary structure as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The exhaust tube III is preferably fused to the flare while both parts are rotated about axis I4 and while adjacent parts thereof are heated. The thimbles which are con- 30 structed according to the Kruh and Wolf Patent No. 1,564,690 issued December 8, 1925, and Housekeeper Patent No. 1,294,466 issued February 18, 1919, are attached to the flare either by the method described in Patent No. 1,980,840, D. K. 35 Wright et al., issued November 13, 1934, or as the exhaust tube is attached. If the latter method is used the glass ring 16 is first securely attached to the thimbles whereupon thimble I l and the flare are caused to rotate about axis ll. 40 Fires are directed on point I8 of the flare which is blown into engagement with the glass of the thimble by air applied to the inner surface of the flare. Thimble I2 is attached similarly while the assembly rotates about axis 19. The glass re- 5 maining within the thimbles is broken out. The next step in the assembling of the lamp is the attaching of theso-called inner leads 20 as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The leads are preferably channel shaped for their entire length except a dis- 50 tance on one end 2| which is rounded in order to engage the inner walls of the thimble and to limit the distance the leads enter into said thimble. Said leads are fastened to the thimble either by soldering or welding. I

At the inner end of the leads are mounted blocks 23 and 24 which are preferably of an insulating material Such as an asbestos and suitable cement and fit into the channels of saidleads. The blocks are preferably fastened to the leads by pins 25 and 26 which are passed through holes in bothparts and then bent over. The filament 21 is preferably coiled and mounted in parallel lengths in the space between the said blocks. Block 23 supports the upper end of the coils through wires 28 which hook onto loops of the filament and pass through holes in the blocks, being held by their bent ends. Block 24 supports the lower end of the filament through wires 29 embedded in said block and engaging loosely wires 30 through loops 3| and 32. Wires 30 hook into loops in the filament and prevent all but axial movement of the coils thereby allowing the filament to expand and contract. The ends of the filament which are uncoiled are threaded through a short coil 33 which is passed through a hole in each of the leads and welded thereto.

The bulb 34 is placed over the mount, as shown in Fig. '7, and fused to the flare in the usual manner which allows all the excess glass to be cut off. After the filament has been sealed in by the attaching of the bulb, the lamp is evacuated or gas filled and the exhaust tube tipped ofi. The completed lamp, as shown in Fig. 8, is then the result.

A variation of this method which provides distinct advantages when certain manufacturing equipment is available is shown in Fig. 9. With this method an exhaust tube is not used and the lamp is exhausted or gas filled through one of the'thimbles. The only change in the former method, except the elimination of all exhaust tube operations, is the drilling of hole 35 through one of the thimbles after the bulb has been attached. This hole through which the lamp is exhausted or gas filled is closed by solder either applied directly thereto or caused to flow over the hole from the joint in the thimble by heat.

A socket arrangement by which the lamp may be held is outlined in dotted lines in Fig. 8. The socket preferably comprises sleeves 36 and 31 which engage the end portions and shoulders 38 of the thimbles. These thimbles or sleeves I I, I2 serve as posts to mount the lamp in a socket and are rigid in the sense that they may be clamped in the socket to support the lamp without being distorted. The filament 21 may be very definitely located vertically or as to light-center length with reference to the shoulders 38 of the thimbles H and I2 by adjustment of the length of the inner leads 20 and the points of union of the outer ends thereof with said thimbles. The relation of the plane of the filament to that of the thimbles may be also fixed. In the species shown, the plane of the filament passes through and substantially bisects both thimbles. It will be obvious that other relations may be secured by suitable disposition of the plane of that portion of leads 20 directly supporting said filament. The sleeves 36 and 31 of the socket device, supported on block 39 and having thumb screws 40, may be made to have a definiterelation to a reflector, lens or other projection element and thus definite positioning of the filament is secured by simple insertion of the lamp in the socket device.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. An electric device comprising a bulb, an essentially all-glass body sealed to the neck-of said bulb, a pair of outwardly extending metal terminal elements each sealed to the wall of an opening in said glass body and each having a locating part thereon, said terminal elements extending a substantial distance from said glass body to serve as a means for mounting the device in a socket, and a mount supported within said bulb and comprising an electric energy translation element and rigid leads supporting said translation element, each lead being attached at its opposite end to one of said terminal elements and of such length as to definitely position said translation element with respect to said locating part.

2. An electric device comprising a bulb, an essentially all-glass body sealed to the neck of said bulb, a pair of outwardly extending metal terminal elements each sealed to the wall of an opening in said-glass body and a mount supported within said bulb by said terminal elements and comprising an electric energy translation element and rigid channel shaped leads supporting said translation element, each lead being attached at its opposite end to one of said terminal elements.

3. An electric lamp or similar device comprising a bulb, an essentially all-glass body sealed to the neck of said bulb, a pair of outwardly extending metal terminal elements each sealed to the wall of an opening in said glass body and a mount supported within said bulb by said terminal elements and comprising an electric energy translation element and rigid leads supporting said translation element, said leads each being channel shaped with the channels facing each other and supporting transverse members connected to said translation element and each lead being attached at its opposite end to one of said terminal elements.

4. An electric device comprising a bulb, a cupshaped essentially all-glass body sealed to the neck of said bulb, a pair of outwardly extending metal terminal posts each sealed to the wall of an opening in said glass body and a mount supported within said bulb by said terminal posts and comprising an electric energy translation element and rigid leads supporting said translation element, each lead being attached at its opposite end to one of said terminal posts, and said glass body having a sealed-01f exhaust opening therethrough located between said terminal posts.

5. An electric device comprising a bulb, an essentially all-glass body sealed to the neck of said bulb, a pair of rigid metal terminal sleeves each having an end sealed to the wall of an opening in said glass body and extending outwardly a substantial distance from said opening to serve as a means for mounting the device in a socket, the outer end of each of said sleeves being closed, and a mount supported within said bulb solely by said terminal sleeves and comprising an electric energy translation element and rigid leads supporting said translation element, each lead being secured at its opposite end to the inside of one of said terminal sleeves.

6. An electric device comprising a bulb, an essentially all-glass body sealed to the neck of said bulb, a pair of rigid metal terminal sleeves each having an end sealed to the wall of an opening in said glass body and extending outwardly a substantial distance from said opening to serve as a means for mounting the device in a socket, the outer ends of each of said sleeves being closed, and a mount supported within said bulb solely by said terminal sleeves and comprising an electric energy translation element and rigid leads supporting said translation element, each lead being secured at its opposite end to the inside of one of said terminal sleeves at a point removed from the seal between said sleeve and glass body.

7. An electric device comprising a bulb, an essentially all-glass body having a portion sealed to the neck of said bulb and having a pair of openings in another portion thereof, a pair oi. rigid hollow terminal posts each extending outwardly a substantial distance from the edge of one of said openings and closed at its outer end, each of said posts being substantially entirely of metal, and a mount supported within said bulb by said terminal posts and comprising an electric energy translation element and rigid leads supporting said translation element, each lead being secured at its opposite end to the inside of one of said terminal posts.

8. An electric device comprising a bulb, a glass body enclosing one end thereof and provided with a plurality of openings therethrough, a plurality of metal thimbles each having a portion sealed directly to the walls of one of said openings and terminal post, an electric energy translation element mounted within said bulb and leads extending from said element to and electrically connected to said thimbles, said thimbles being of such strength and rigidity that they may be engaged directly by a terminal device and the said electric device supported thereby.

9. An electric device comprising a bulb, a glass body enclosing one end thereof and provided with a plurality oi. openings therethrough, a plurality of metal thimbles each having a portion sealed directly to the walls of one of said openings and extending outwardly sufficiently to serve as a terminal post, an electric energy translation element mounted within said bulb and leads extending from said element to and electrically connected to said thimbles, said leads being of sufiicient strength and rigidity so that said element is supported therethrough and said thimbles being of such strength and rigidity that they may be engaged directly by a terminal device and the said electric device supported thereby.

extending outwardly sufilciently to serve as a DANIEL K. WRIGHT.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,069,638. February 2, 193' DANIEL K. WRIGHT.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, second column, line 24, claim 3, strike out the words "lamp or similar"; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

I Signed and sealed this 16th day of March, A. D. 1937.

Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

